Iron Claw
"I once served in the army. Everyday, I would smell the breath of napalm and blood, and everyday I would see at least fifty thousand brave warriors and bloodlust schnogerrauts die in action. Some warriors awarded posthumously, some became forgotten. I was one of those who came through, scarred, shell shocked, and filthy. But I, along other thousands, made it. I was recognized as a veteran, I was acknowledged for doing my part in what was one of the most important battles in Fantasian history. I was saved from oblivion. Sadly, not all were. And now, I may stand, not as fierce as I was years ago, but with only three missions....Help the weak, fight the vile, and to love others. And now, Pen, my missions start with you. We have windigos to wipe. Clean." Iron Claw is a recurring character who first made his appearance in Rise of the Windigo. He was formerly a soldier involved in the "war of the 60s" and thus an experienced war veteran. He is a Saberton who has a liking for firearms, usually pistols, though when unarmed, will resort to his natural abilities given as a Saberton, such as claws, his sharp teeth, etc. History It is unclear as to where and how exactly Iron Claw was born and came to be, though Iron Claw himself claims he was born in a small village in Switzizen. Because he once resided in a battle-wrecked house containing a rotting trophyboard where there were 2 medals, one silverite and one golde, presumed to have earned in high school, it is assumed that Iron Claw lived a normal, unpeturbed life and followed formal education, unlike most Sabertons who were war-minded and quitted at 9th year to participate in battles. The medals could also mean he lived alongside non-Sabertons such as humanoids, elvens (the more modern and tech-sophisticated elvens), and other races. Although it is unexplained how his family left Switzizen, Iron Claw stated that his family's reason to leave his birthplace and migrate to Eutia was because of the intense war and conflict between the Switzizens and the nearby Leovodians over territorial and racial tensions. Like him, he said that his family was more peace-loving. In their stay in Eutia, Iron Claw was then able to live a normal, smooth life, though he was particularly the "nerdy-silent" type in his schools, as he said. However, during his high school years, what seemed to be an extraterrestrial invasion launched by creatures known as "schnoggerauts" impacted Euhastine, the fashion capital of Fantasia, and thus, defensive agencies both local and international came to heed as the schnoggerauts were eximius non-litera, extremely agressive and completely unable to reason with. Most nations of Fantasia were anxious about this, despite some countries being extremely far from Euhastine, and so the Fantasian countries began to send soldiers and warriors both technologic and magical, to the agencies to cooperate against the invasion of the schnoggerauts, and this included Eutia itself. Iron Claw as a follower of justice, exhorted himself to join the army, but his parents instantly discouraged the young cub in doing so, considering he had school to do and was only 14. However, Iron Claw warned that even "a far and single point can go far", fearing the invasion would affect Eutia and ultimately his family and friends. Reluctantly, his parents allowed him to participate but only in minor operations, such as defending lines, points, sending supplies to cargo and such. As Iron Claw departs from his family in the SS Guardian, he soon becomes homesick and depressed at leaving his family, but it was already made a decision by himself. He had to go, into battle. This, thus, marked the beginning of "war of the 60s". Into battle When the battleship arrived in Negabreca, Iron Claw started, as a cadet. Despite not having undergone military training, he volunteered to defend the front line despite his parents' instructions not to take on major operations. Even his offer was rejected by most of the officials as they feared his loss, only to accept him into the Front Line Squadron after Iron Claw tells them a mesmerizing experience. At the front line, their first opponents turned out to be mechs simply called by the soldiers as "mechazors", due to the fact that they often have turrets in place of their left fists that have sharp razors protruding from beneath them, as if unfixable bayonet. However, as the soldiers run forth to battle, they all were armed with guns but Iron Claw. He was unwilling to risk friendly-firing allies if he would be given a gun despite his ineptiness to handle the ranged weapons at the time. But then, what he did to combat surprised very much his comrades and officials. He did all his battling, like a tiger, at the same time, a humanoid. He would run on fours in the long battlefield, and when he spotted a foe, he would leap like a humanoid and lash at the opponent with his dangerous Saberton claws, which could cut through most metal and cause electromagnetic disturbances for some magical reason. His natural agility, strength and prowess became extremely useful in ending his first day in military, and eventually on his future missions. From time to time, he has become increasingly respected and known in the army, and also he had gradual knowledge about handling guns. His only choice, however, was the pistol, and as stated by himself, he preferred to be simple, and if something required something more than a pistol, he would be talking about upgraded pistols, such as laser pistols, plasma and etc. Iron Claw then was dubbed 'The Iron Claw' by his allies and eventually his friends and the entire world. Eventually, as the aliens were eradicated state and state as the years passed, Iron Claw soon became one of those who were recognized and honored on the day that the last remaining schnoggeraut, the Prime was defeated. The entire war took 7 years to completely eradicate the invasive creatures, and because of his excellence in his service and performance, he was then given the rank of General. Thus, he had his own army to command, his own office, and he was now himself among the high ranks, the most respected and experienced units of the army. That was, until he went back to Eutia. Back home Despite his achievements, Iron Claw did not have any contact with his family for straight 7 years. From time to time during the war, he attempted sending written letters to his parents, but often the carrier was killed during delivery or the letters themselves lost or some other harm. His parents did know of their son's performance, and so the latter, despite being now among the high ranks, decided to return to Eutia. His performance as a General was hindered by his thought of what had become of his beloved family after 7 years. He asked permission from the army and was readily permitted to return, aboard the same battleship that departed him from his family. When he finally returned, Eutia has changed very little during the years. Remembering the roads, he finds his home, though it is now wrecked and rotten. This still incites Tiger Claw to visit in case his parents were still having a living in it. But what he saw inside depressed him. The parents had a tension between ownership challenged by a wealthier company who wanted land for their supposed restaurant. Eventually, the company wins the case and legally demolishes the house, leaving his parents to wander the forest instead..Iron Claw then enters the forest and searches boldly for his parents, to no avail until he finds the corpse of his mother dangling from a branch deep in the woods, extremely mutilated. It was announced in the media earlier ago that two Sabertons were missing in the forest. The mother was killed by something unknown and the father presumably suffocates after stumbling and being lost in a cave after running from what had killed the mother. Isolation from society Extremely heartbrokened and grievous, a tearful Iron Claw renounces his rank as General and retires from the army to live on his own now that his parents were killed. He decides to hunt down the killer in the forest, which is eventually revealed to be a windigo, and the two gave a hard battle in the deep woods until Iron Claw, being an experienced war veteran, gains the upper hand and kills the monster by exploding its head. He later confesses weeks after and decides to follow what had happened to his parents prior their death; live in a forest. From this, he called himself a recluse and wanders for a small , abandoned village near Camino Surea, a road, and isolates himself from the world forevermore. He fends himself from the weather that has become snowy and from the windigos who haunt the outskirts, becoming a lone vigilante for 5 years, before he met an outlandish boy who eventually helps him be remembered by his war allies and the world, starting by hunting down what was believed to be the culprit of the windigo populace, Ethroll. Paraphernalia Being an experienced war veteran, Iron Claw has a very, very, wide and obvious array of weapons. Iron Claw states that he has three types of weapons to use in a certain scenario with very specific modifications and usage. One he names the normal type, which he uses for "usual-purpose" targets, such as normal bandits, swordspersons, etc. The second he names the tech type, wholly purposed for dealing with aliens, robots, Gallouses, and creatures whose abilities remain unknown to him. And lastly the supernatural type, used to deal with many creatures of supernatural origin, such as fanguines, lycanthropes, draedogons, and most commonly the windigos.: 'Firearms: '''Iron Claw's most obvious of all. His firearms are all pistols, though, however, powerful. He has a plasma pistol, a laser pistol that can cause a powerful charge when the trigger is held for a few seconds and released, an ordinary pistol turned multi-purpose, added with bullet holders on sides, a retractable scope, a hidden laser sight, a grappling hook, and even a small storage of spare bullets. '''Melee: '''He is often seen with a katana resembling a lunar blade strapped on his back when not needed. He also has a combat knife which he resorts to when left with little, such as when the deer-like windigo corners him and Iron Claw boldly takes out the said knife and charges at the monster. When the knives and blades are all out, there is no reason why the people have dubbed him 'The Iron Claw' for nothing. '''Abilities: '''Iron Claw has all of a Saberton's usual abilities, great leaping, strength, ferocity, sharp teeth and claws, a humanoid body that can change to genuine feline to survive great falls. Appearance Iron Claw, as a Saberton, has the head of a tiger, the body of a humanoid, the tail of again the tiger, the roar of the latter, but the voice of a middle-aged battle master. He is very tall, reaching a few inches above Pentinence when in his normal form, though they both are the same height when Pentinence becomes Dark Blade. His battle scars are fair in frequency, though some have mistakened him to be scar-free because the scars blend in with his stripes. He has yellow eyes that can become green at night, as night vision, and as a Saberton, has inevitably sharp teeth that could intimidate his foes but the windigos. He wears a modified battle scarf designed to help with dealing the cold, despite his fur could do fine. He is clad in blue, battle uniform, two of his sleeves black in color and two gun-holders on his waist. A line of bullets/ammo is visible across, strapped on his chest area and has black-camo pants that are resistant to scratch and fire, Personality Though Sabertons are mostly bent on war and hatred for their neighboring enemies, Iron Claw and his family are completely the opposite. As mentioned earlier, Iron Claw is actually peace-loving, though his enemies, mostly the windigos and formerly the schnoggerauts, make him do his violence part. While he has always felt remorse for killing or hurting enemies that can be reasoned with, he shows no mercy and passion for windigos. He believes the windigos are "pure-evil since their existence" and "deserving to damn in hell". This vendetta develops obviously after his parents were murdered by a windigo, and he has swore to terminate their face off not only Eutia or Fantasia, but the entire world of Navagar. Looking on his bright side, Iron Claw has a liking for silence, as he is often seen idling by closing his eyes and seemingly meditating. His ears twitching up suddenly might either be because he has heard noise others can't hear, or he is simply disturbed or annoyed. He has a fair temper overall, and a friendly attitude towards strangers despite his frightening, war-thirsty(by his apparel) appearance. Even if these people are scared of him at first, he understands this and will never give up trying to reach to them and claim he is benevolent. Trivia *Iron Claw's real name is never mentioned in the stories or by Iron Claw himself. *One of Iron Claw's foes, the strongest windigo who has the head of a deer though laden with blood and flesh dangling down the mouth, is often ironic in contrast to Iron Claw. Tigers will of course, eat deer. But in this case, the deer-headed windigo is trying to kill Iron Claw, who tries to kill him in return without intention of devouring the windigo's carcass, but the latter actually craves for Iron Claw's flesh. *If you look closely at his paws when they are opened, they reveal an unknown code. It is unknown if Iron Claw himself is aware of this. *Iron Claw's age seems to be at 50, but keep in mind, Regiversians age very, very differently, race from race. *If one would take a deeper inspection in Iron Claw's lone home in the abandoned snowy village, you can pass by his locked bedroom and, if you have keys or lockpicking skills, you will see plenty of corpses, both humanoid and of herbivorous animals, laying splat everywhere. This could speculate that Iron Claw could either: a. have secretly gone insane from loss of his parents, or something else. b. be like an actual tiger, kill the animals roaming the forest for food. c. be a windigo himself. d. have caused the state of the snowy village. He might have lied about the village being abandoned prior to his arrival, and could have killed and ate the inhabitants as a result of his rage, depression, hunger or insanity. However, these are conspiracy theories, and Iron Claw himself could possibly be never such a person, as it is clearly stated by Alinor through her telephatic powers that Iron Claw is completely innocent. * He can sometimes become emotional, especially when recalling his history. * Often, herbivorous characters such as Nightcore Eclipse are scared of him, due to his tiger appearance or the fact that he eats almost meat. However, whoever that person would be, will most likely end up being confident by his side. Quotes *"Perfect or not, you are my friend, my friend."'' *''"And WHAT brings you here?"'' *''"Who are you? Are you a windigo?"'' *''They will come...to subsist on flesh and rot down the dreams, cracks, and tears of the living..."'' *''"We have a monster to catch."'' *''"Please, I intend no harm."'' *''"I am battle-scarred, not battle-striped."'' *''"Interesting history, young boy."'' *''"No....what..what have YOU DONE TO THEM?!"'' *''"YOU CANNOT ESCAPE IRON CLAW, MONSTER!"'' *''"Return and fight your equal!"'' *''"That was a bad choice."'' *''"My name, is Iron Claw, young one. And who, are you?"'' *''"Pen, I have fought these monsters time to time. Of course, I will be fine."'' *''"Leave, now."'' *''"Prepare......For when nightfall comes....they follow."'' *''"Winter..The condition of this village? The answer is deep in the woods, but I suggest you don't look for it. Better to ignore than to know, I'd say."'' *''"Take this. It is fish soup. And they are mercifully killed."'' *''"No, Pen. These creatures, they are irrational. They can never be reasoned with, no matter how you beat your mind to it. They will always be monsters. Thus, their deaths do not count in the rule of Justice."'' *''"I can't believe it...It feels just like six years ago...standing by the army, in front of the crowd....Global liberation."'' *''"Schnogerrauts are annoyance, windigos are vengeance. Contrast the two."'' *''"I am old enough to handle myself, Pen. You should run to live long enough to know how to defend yourself better."'' *''"'Thank you, Pen, for you have helped me become what I formerly was...but scratch the 'formerly'. It is now, 'now'."''